Asian Attractions

THE EXPLOSION OF COMPUTER USE AND INTERNET REACH IN INDIA HAVE CREATED A NEW MEDIUM FOR THE ANCIENT WRITING SYSTEMS OF THE SUBCONTINENT. "Tamil is famous south Indian language and lot of Tamil content available in web today," one Tamil wrote on an online forum recently. "Lot of twitters we follow use Tamil." Tamil has one of the longest unbroken literary traditions in the world, and it is now taking on a new life in the shimmering realms of cyberspace. Although, as many Tamils lament, it is not supported by Android. Kuala Lumpur's Little India is one of the finest in the region. There is also (must it be said) a Little India neighborhood in Singapore, but KL's Little India is more authentic and original. It has an edge, and that's what gives it a charm. How do you install Tamil script on your smartphone? This website will attempt to help you. Would you like to download a Tamil keyboard to your Apple or PC? There are all sorts of cool programs like this these days, and this site will describe some of them.

First: A history lesson. Tamil is one of the two classical languages of India, and has been spoken more or less continuously for 2000 years. Over that time, the Tamil script evolved from an ancient southern form of the Brahmi script, but was also influenced by the Grantha script. The earliest texts, written in the southern variant of Brahmi, date from just before the 1st century CE. Overtime the script changed, and by the 8th century CE the Tamil script has evolved into more or less its modern form.

Tamil is one of the two classical languages of India. It is spoken today by approximately 65 million people living mainly in southern India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Africa, Fiji, the West Indies, Mauritius and Reunion Islands, United Kingdom, United States and Canada.

Fast forward to the modern era, the Internet age. The first member of the ISO 8859 family, ISO 8859-1 (unofficially known as Latin-1), was formulated in 1987 (and later revised in 1998) for Western European languages such as French, German, Spanish, Italian and the Scandinavian languages, among others. Since then, the 8859 family has extended to 15 members. However, if one examines closely the contents it is obvious that these character codes mainly aim at writing systems of European languages.

It is also clear from the table that there is considerable overlap between these standards, especially the many versions of the Latin characters. Each standard simply includes a slightly different collection of characters to optimise the performance of a particular language or group of languages. Apart from the 8859 standards, there also exist ISO 2022-compliant character codes (national variants of ISO 646) for non-European languages, including, for example, Thai (TIS 620), Indian languages (ISCII), Vietnamese (VISCII) and Japanese (JIS X 0201). In addition, as noted in the previous section, computer manufacturers such IBM, Microsoft and Apple have also published their own character codes for languages already covered by the 8859 standards. Whilst the members of the 8859 family can be considered as complementary, these manufacturer tailored "code pages" are definitely competing character codes.

If you could go back in time to the 1990s, ... In May 2000, the World Socialist Web Site announced the launch of a Tamil language page.
Although India gave birth to the Tamil language, it was Singapore that introduced it to the World Wide Web. So said Tamil Nadu's Language and Culture Minister Thamizh Kudimagan, at the Tamil Inaiyam 2000 conference. Held in the island republic,
MYLAI is a "Tamil font created by Dr. K.Kalyanasundaram primarily as a medium for archiving and distributing tamil electronic texts on the Internet," according to Tamil Library. "The font is available in identical format - for use on Windows Pcs (Windows 3.x, NT and 95), Macintosh PCs and UNIX platforms. Unlike most of the commercial fonts that use the classical tamil typewriter keymap, Mylai keymapping is phonetically linked to english/roman keyboard. A Web page describing features of Mylai Tamil font is available."

TSCII stands for Tamil Standard Code for Information Interchange. It is a character encoding standard for Tamil on computers. If you are interested in reading about the evolution of Tamil character sets on computers over the years, hit up this site.

Azhagi Tamil Software: website here.
As the website states: "With Azhagi, you will find Tamil transliteration natural and intuitive, simple and straightforward, fast and flexible. In a nutshell, if you wish to type in English and get it in Tamil (in any application) in the 'easiest' and 'fastest' mode possible, then Azhagi is the one & only software for you. More details on this, with lots of examples - HERE."

Tamil fonts for Android, recruitment drives and career exhibitions locally and overseas (Australia, Taiwan, Japan, UK and USA). On-line and print advertisements are placed on campus web-sites and on notice boards to inform students of upcoming Agilent events and invite applications. Agilent Malaysia's campus recruitment team, comprised of engineering and human resources managers, conducts on-campus interviews during their visits. Students are also encouraged to apply for jobs on the website listed above.

Azhagi: http://azhagi.com/free1.html.
"Apart from offering Free static Tamil fonts, we are offering free Dynamic Tamil font (both Unicode and Tscii compliance in the same font) too, to host your own Tamil web Site, if you purchase the 'Professional' version of Azhagi. In case you wish to have our dynamic font alone (i.e. just the font alone, without any license to our Azhagi application), then our dynamic font is not free and you shall make a payment equal to the price of the 'Standard' version of Azhagi, to avail our dynamic font. In the former case, dynamic font will be provided free only to those who opt for it along with the purchase of their professional version. It would not be provided free at a later date after the purchase.
"If you host your Tamil websites using our dynamic Tamil fonts, there is no need for your visitors to download any Tamil font to view your Tamil webpages."

Alterntaively, you can create your own ringtones -- all it takes is a little program called Audacity. Or you can get some tones from the streets. But before you do it, consider the ethical issues. Intellectual property specialist Patrick Mirandah wrote on his site: "The music industry has received a major boost as it now has new income source in downloadable mobile phone ring tones. Introduced to Malaysia in 2004, the mobile ringtone business has grown tremendously. It is now being perceived as being the 'saviour' of the otherwise down sliding Malaysian music industry. One can truly say that this digital format has given a new lease of life to the Malaysian music industry, and is more than welcomed by the recording industry.

"Having said that, the digital world has also left the door ajar for piracy and infringement issues to arise such as illegal downloading and cheap, unauthorized selling of ringing tones, which are readily available, cheap and user friendly to consumers in Malaysia, who are still unfazed by the consequences to them as a result of the various anti-piracy laws especially the Copyright Act and Trade Descriptions Act. The availability of such 'services' is blatant and widespread as mobile phone users and phone subscribers can purchase such illegal ring tones from 'makeshift kiosks' in various parts of the country or at the pasar malam (night market) stalls nationwide. Mobile phone dealers also provide 'additional services' by downloading songs and selling them as ring tones to the consumers, for a nominal fee. Such operators obviously flout with anti-piracy laws.

"In the effort to curb this 'crisis', the Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM) recently launched a nationwide operation on illegal operators. In the southern state of Johore bordering Singapore, two kiosks containing 90,773 songs and ring tones were seized and a 25-year-old operator was detained in a raid jointly conducted by RIM and the State Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Office at KipMark, Tampoi, Johore.

"The abovementioned 'kiosks' are actually just a desktop computer fitted into a box and consumers can hear samples of various songs before downloading them into their MP3 players or mobile phones via Bluetooth, Infrared or USB cable for a price. The illegal ring tones are usually sold at RM3 (USD 0.80) each or in a bundle of 5 songs or ring tones for RM10 (USD 2.80).

"Under the amended Section 41(1) of the Copyright Act 1987, the minimum fine upon conviction is RM2,000 per copyright infringed, subject to a maximum fine of RM20,000 per song, or five years imprisonment, or both.

"In shopping complexes, these 'kiosks' are usually found near mobile phone shops, while at the night markets the pirates would usually have a stall comprising of a table, chair and a laptop.

"Indeed, this has taken copyright infringement to a higher level. At the moment, there are approximately 18 million mobile phone subscribers in Malaysia and there was only one kiosk that has been licensed by RIM to sell ring tones and MP3s, which is located in Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur. Therefore the music industry itself has a long way to go in providing a legitimate avenue to satisfy the demand from the public for downloads.

"In an effort to curtail the widespread infringement, three dealers were 'put out' of business in Kuala Lumpur recently for downloading and selling them as ring tones. Officers from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs seized a laptop from each of the three dealers at the ground floor of a shopping complex. Each laptop contained 7,000 songs, which were downloaded from the Internet.

"These songs were later converted and sold as ring tones to mobile phone users between RM3 and RM5 each. Initial investigations revealed that each dealer had been operating at the shopping complex for more than a year and is believed that each made at least RM600 per day by downloading songs and selling them as ring tones.

"Last September, the Ministry raided a shop in Kuala Lumpur and seized three computers, seven hard discs, 54 pirated MP3 compact discs and 32 preloaded CD-Rs with more than 60,000 popular tunes ready to be sold as ring tones. The 27-year old director of the said shop was arrested and is now facing several charges pending further investigation.

"What seemed sweet to the ears of the recording companies previously, is no longer the same at present, as they have not yet reaped the benefits of the music download sales. The efforts by the government in assisting the music industry are commendable, but more legitimate outlets have to be set up as otherwise the pirates will be the ones satisfying demand..."

Nick on Bali Blog, wrote: "Today I took my friend Fauzi's advice and went to Toa Payoh to look at cell phones. I'm not a gadget person and don't care about ringtones, video clips or playing games. For me its purely a device to save time.

"Toa Payoh is an area of cheap housing, in high rise blocks, I know because I was here in 1984. [Short story: Arriving in Singapore late at night by bus from Malaysia, I was an inexperienced backpacker alone in a totally new environment.

"Okay so Toa Payoh is a place with a local market area of small shops selling the usual array of gadgets and things that people want, including electrical bits and pieces. In short I needed a phone with good coverage worldwide, a camera, internet access and a built in GPS. Staff a one small shop recommended a Nokia Navigator. The guy helped install my old SIM card, load the address book, install a new 2GB memory card, case etc. Total cost including Sing tax was $785 Sing (US$515), a chunk of which I'll get back at the airport by showing the Customs I'm leaving with the device. So far the thing seems to works pretty good, just have to remember to pick it up everytime I put it down and try not to drop it in the toilet..."

Branah: Virtual Tamil Keyboard.
This is an online keyboard requiring no download, it works in your browser. Use your mouse or keyboard to type the keys. You can copy your text to your Facebook or homepage, plug it into a Google search, or even Tweet directly from the website! This is an impressive tool for foreign alphabet buffs like myself! Branah keyboards are available in languages ranging from Amharic to Vietnamese. I can imagine myself using it to write comments in broken Chinese or Khmer when I am there during my Indochina Year, or texting in Tamil when I get to south India in 2015 or so.

Frontype: Your Fingers Are Smart!
If you are a long way from home and lack a Tamil-enabled keyboard, you could download this onscreen keyboard. Alternatively, you could use it to teach yourself to type Tamil. Once download, Frontype will appear as a transparent grey film over the screen. You can customise the look of the keyboard. Windows XP or Vista is needed for the running of this software.

The Spotbee Club
The Spotbee Club says: "Funk up your mobile for FREE, and join the Spotbee CLUB
"Download your first 5 mobile content on Spotbee for FREE when you join up. Choose from any content you want!"
Claimed by itself as the number one ringtone and logo site in Malaysia, Spotbee goes on to flog some of its merchandise: in the poly ringtone division we have:
"Christmas Songs (33) :::: Hit Songs (908) :::: National Anthems (134) :::: Country Music (128) :::: Pop (20) ::::
Dance and House (21) :::: Rap Music (78) :::: Disney Themes (32) :::: TV Themes (81) :::: Film Themes (92) :::: Video Games Themes (52)..."

Tamil Ringtones Online.
The official website claims: "Tamil Ringtones Online is owned and operated by Sivakasi based Kuttyjapan Web Services.
"Hi Everybody, want to send free SMS to any mobile in India from Internet without any cost and also Unlimited SMS to your friends........
"You can now send SMS to your family members, colleagues, relatives, friends mobiles with free of cost. It is free for the receiver mobile also as all incoming SMS to any mobile in India is free. In India the cellular operators are not charging for incoming SMS. So enjoy Tamil Ringtons Online services!!!"
..

v i s a + n e w s

SOME NEWS FOR TRANSITEES FROM CHINA AND INDIA: For a limited period starting from 1 October 2005, 96-hour visa free transit facilities (VFTF) will be available to PRC and Indian nationals without the need of letters of guarantee by airlines if they are in possession of a valid onward air ticket departing within the next 96-hours and satisfy the following criteria:

AEROFLOT FREQUENT FLYER PROGRAM
To claim for Miles earned for the Partner Airlineüfs flight a full set of travel documentation is required: copy of the ticket (in case of E-ticket its printed copy) and original boarding pass should be sent to Aeroflot Bonus Center.
The 96-hour VFTF is eligible to PRC and Indian nationals who are in transit to or from any third country. However, transit passengers who satisfy the above criteria are not guaranteed entry but are still subjected to Singapore's prevailing entry requirements.
Transit passengers who satisfy all the above requirements and allowed entry will be granted a stay of up to 96-hours (4 days) in Singapore. Extension of stay for transit passengers under this VFTF scheme is strictly not allowed.
* More countries may be added. Please check with the Singapore Visitors Centres at Changi Airport for more information.
Uniquely Singapore Transit Adventure
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A seamless transportation network and efficient immigration clearance will put you in the middle of the action within minutes! Best of all, there are no airport taxes to be paid when you leave the airport to tour Singapore.
From now till March 2006, we have lined up a series of exciting and enticing activities that promise to make your transit in Singapore truly memorable! With a variety of travel options like the Free hourly shuttle to town, Free city tour, Tourist Day Pass and Taxi Tour Guide, you will be spoilt for choices while transiting in Singapore.
Apart from the travel options, transit passengers can enjoy a FREE snack voucher* OR a FREE shower facility voucher* for a refreshing shower after they return from the city. Simply collect your voucher from our Singapore Visitors Centres at the Arrival Halls of Changi Airport with your transit pass and passport for redemption at the following outlets:
Shower @ Rainforest by SATS
Changi Airport Terminal 1 #034-06 3rd Storey Departure/Transit Lounge
Snack @ Brek Ristorante
Changi Airport Terminal 2 #026-109 Departure/Transit Lounge
Snack @ SPFG Boutique CafüEŻEüEŻEüEŻEüEŻE
Changi Airport Terminal 1 #025-02B Departure/Transit Lounge
Terms and conditions
- Only valid for transit passengers with transit pass and valid immigration stamp on passport as proof of having left the airport within a 24-hour period
Not applicable to transit passengers on Free City Tour
Not refundable or exchangeable for cash or in kind
Not applicable with other promotions, discounts or vouchers